There are 2 mistakes here.
1. The naturalistic fallacy. Because something exists doesn’t make it right or justify its continuation. Because we have been plundering this planet for 40,000 years does not excuse this behavior.
2. The fallacy of division. Because a individual is using a computer, it does not follow that they are responsible for the collective behavior that is destroying our planet. A janitor who empties the waste baskets in a bank is not responsible for the destruction caused by the bank’s activities as an organization. We are all born into a world we did not make and are not responsible for our ancestors behavior.

I keep thinking about what T. Roosevelt’s concern over corporations becoming too large and “buying” government .
I doubt that there’s ONE answer to this question of why we aren’t doing as well. One thing that I think that we need is a kick in the ass.

1913 would allow for several things. First, the founding of the Federal Reserve and second is the likely fraudulent ratification of the 16th Amendment to allow federal income taxes. Beyond that, WWI changed forever the role of the Federal government. Before the war most people’s only connection to the National government was the US Mail (unless military personnel) and after WWI President Wilson had begun unprecedented intrusion into the US economy. I am not saying that some of these actions were inappropriate for winning a war but they set a precedent which would serve as a disaster when FDR and the Great Depression arrived. One of the most unquantifiable impacts was the change in attitude of many citizens from fearing an intrusive government to looking at the government as a saviour in hard times. This was part of several key steps which undermined our economic base. I could continue but I believe it would certainly take us far outside the timeframe of this chart and commentary.

Does it go back to Hamilton winning the finance debate with Jefferson? And then, with the Federal Reserve, robust private banking, lending to ordinary citizens , backed by real assets, became the domain of a wealthy elite? Eventually finance/ lending was corrupted into a Ponzi- like scheme?
The crux of this question is what it was that very suddenly changed approximately 25 years after independence and the signing of our constitution.